The International Baccalaureate has said it will work with schools to address their concerns over this year’s Diploma grades.

The move comes after thousands of people have called for “justice” for IB students this year in an online petition, after many students received grades that were lower than they had been predicted.

Exclusive: IB ‘concession’ over grade appeals

International Baccalaureate results: Anger grows over grading

‘Scandal’: Students demand new grades

IB: Unhappy schools want more transparency

This year, following the cancellation of exams during the coronavirus outbreak, the IB used a combination of historic data, school predicted grades and coursework to calculate grades. In an unusual step, the IB took in all students’ coursework to mark, which some teachers have suggested could have lead to grading inaccuracies.

In a statement released yesterday to school heads and coordinators, IB director-general Dr Siva Kumari said that “we hear the anxiety around the May 2020 results”.

“The emotional well-being of our students and our community is paramount in our decision making and remains the highest priority,” she said.

She added that the IB wanted to work with schools to review “extraordinary cases” for appeals.

She said the IB had identified “three priority areas for review” - discrepancies for individual candidates, for subject departments, and for a whole cohort.

“We are working to develop a process which will enable us to have a conversation with each school regarding their concerns at the cohort and individual school level,” she said.

Further details of this are expected to be announced on Thursday.